Festive Book Review: The A to Z of You and Me by James Hannah

PURCHASE|

GOODREADS 
MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: You are forty and in a hospice. 

There's a lot you can do in a hospice without keeling over from boredom. 1: Listen to the loud juddering breaths of your cancer next-door patient.  2: Stare at the walls of your room idly waiting for your nurses. 3: Invite family over and have a blast.

Probably the last option. The most tempting of all. Except you'd die before you speak to the 'family that bought the earliest train ticket to dumping you in this shithole. 

But it's not that much of a shithole is it? There's a nurse who regularly stops by to check (up) on you. There's the family of the cancer-patient waving warmly and—sometimes—sitting in to have a chat with you if they are not going haywire for the health of your neighbour.

But, really there's not a lot to do holed up in bed, all day, everyday, waiting for your last breathe. Of course the thoughts of your past threaten to catch up with you. But you can't have that. You can't think of all the moments you fucked-up your life.

Then one day, your favorite nurse stops in, and introduces the Game that would bring your past right next to your present with a cuppa in hand. A Game that would bring up thoughts of WHO you could have led a clean life for but DIDN'T. 

Ivo's almost-ending life summed up for your delight.  

My REVIEW. 

I liked this book!

Storyline amazing! Guy in hospital thinking of all the times in his past from childhood till adulthood till he met YOU(—not you), naming every body part from A to Z and telling the stories associated with them to keep you(—really mean you this time) engrossed. Lovely──★.

A beautiful narrative. Told in first person-point of view with a dash of second person for when he's referring to YOU. Some parts are so irregularly breathtaking, they read like poetry. A nice incorporation. Prose and poetry all merged into this delight. A star!──★★

Oh, you'd love Ivo! Amazingly unique voice. Perfectly resembles his character. It's a sad thing though for him life is ending at forty. A star.──★★★

OK. Let's take a second to praise all the other amazing cast. A quirky book with a quirky set of characters to match. From Laura, the annoying sister who wouldn't act her age as the oldest. There's Mal, the friend who you'd hate with a passion. There's also Becca, the hot black girl with an amazing skin and body (who everyone loves). There's Ivo's mum—funny as hell! Mr. Miller, the teacher who despises Ivo for being part of the naughty sniggering bastards at the back of the class. There's also Kevin, the threesome of Ivo and Mal who outshines Ivo in the naive and hopeless department. Sheila, the amazing nurse also deserves a honking from my klaxon. And of course, there's YOU. A star to all these delightful characters.──★★★★ 

My rating:  Four/Five stars.
Ivo's beautiful story can be found on Amazon. Big-ups to James Hannah for penning this heartwarming/renching debut.

I recommend this to anyone who loves their fiction with the death, hospice, cancer, kidney failure theme. If you want a book with a quirky cast, oh go for this! A perfect read for this season, a book that topics on kindness and love, forgiveness—attitudes you'd need in large store this holiday season for when that crazy aunt drops by to get on your nerves!

MY work not done here. Off to post my review on Amazon as well as Goodreads 

Fall Book Review: We That Are Left by Clare Clark.

Purchase|Goodreads 

Blurb: Two sisters, born into privilege, are forced to make their way in a world turned upside down by war. One man transforms them both. 

1910. Jessica and Phyllis Melville have grown up at Ellinghurst, a family estate fraught with secrets. A headstrong beauty, Jessica longs for London — the glitter and glamour of debutante life — while bookish Phyllis dreams in vain of attending university. Into their midst walks Oskar Grunewald, a frequent visitor fascinated by the house but alternately tormented and ignored by the Melville children. Oskar seeks refuge in Ellinghurst’s enormous library.  Meanwhile Theo, the adored Melville brother, eclipses everyone around him.
 
The Great War arrives to devastate and reshape their world. In a country unrecognizable from the idylls of their youth, the Melville sisters struggle to forge new paths without the guidance of the old rules. But Oskar’s life has become entwined with theirs once again, in ways—both immediate and unimaginable-- that will change all of their futures.

My Review. 

Beautiful Storyline! Downton Abbey meets... spectacular storytelling. Imagine a world of your favorite series where the estate is now Ellinghurst. War has torn through and muddled the lives of the upper-crust of society. All the characters are marred in some way by the war, and after it's all over, there's a torrential affair between two sisters and one eligible bachelor. A star!──★ 

You would love the main characters! The story is told in the points of view Jessica Melville, a somewhat spoilt mischievous adventurous heiress to the estate and Oscar, a science progidy soon to be an Einstein in his time. Their two points of views are entertaining and engaging. There's no chapter you'd find yourself rolling your eyes to be over and done with (because one character happens to be too boring). A star!──★★ 

Other characters are also fantastic! You'd love Tom Mellvile, Jessica's brother who's the apple of his mother's eye and overshadows the presence of all his siblings when he walks into the room. You'd also love Phyllis, the sister who likes to tuck herself away in a book and go contrary to societal expectations. There's also Jessica's self-obtained lothario who introduces her to the darker areas of London. Lots and lots of amazing characters who aren't redundant in any way!──★★★

Another feature of this book you'd quite adore is its pacy, clever dialogue laden with quick-wit and undertones of sarcasm. All the characters speak in that enigmatically appealing and audacious way of the people of Old England. I felt I was in a time-warp enjoying the company of these amazing characters with their luring conversations and elegant social events.──★★★★

The love triangle between some of the main characters is also an intriguing feature of the novel. Lots of surprising, OMG moments as well.──★★★★★

From start-to-finish, childhood to adulthood, this book was a delight! Not the kind of literature you wish all the characters would just grow up so you get on to reading the "good stuff". This novel develops on a surprisingly pacy plot despite its length. You wouldn't be able to shut an eye!──★★★★★★

My rating: Five/Five stars.

We That Are Left by Clare Clark is available on Amazon! Go get it!!

I recommend this book to anyone who loves storylines evolving with a background of the Wars fought in history. Anyone who wants literature that's so just Downton Abbey must race for this. Plus you know most historicals are never lacking a blend of enigmatic, entertaining and bold characters, and I'm sure this is your kind of book if you are looking for these... characteristics. 

My work not done here! Off to post my review on Amazon and Goodreads!

Fall Book Review: The Gilded Life of Matilda Duplaine by Alex Brunkhorst

   

Purchase|Goodreads

Blurb: A modern-day Gatsby tale of forbidden love, family secrets and the true price of wealth.

The story begins with a dinner party invitation. When young journalist Thomas Cleary is sent to dig up quotes for the obituary of a legendary film producer, the man's eccentric daughter offers him entree into the exclusive upper echelons of Hollywood society. A small-town boy with working-class roots, Thomas is a stranger in this opulent world of private jets and sprawling mansions.

Then he meets Matilda Duplaine. 

Matilda is a beautiful and mysterious young woman who has never left the lush Bel-Air estate where she was raised. Thomas is immediately entranced by the enigmatic girl and the two begin a secret love affair. But what starts as an enchanted romance soon unravels a web of secrets and lies that could destroy their lives and the lives of everyone around them forever.

My Review. 

A really amazing book!
This book has the charm of Gatsby, and the beauty of Hollywood all embedded in its storyline! So Boy gets into the exclusives of L.A Rich and Famous Scene, and commits the black-listing mistake of getting on the bad side of a man who owns all of Hollywood and more as a result of love. Lovely!  A star──★.

I couldn't put it down! The charm of the LA scenes, the people of Bel Air, its inhabitants and the very exclusive parties reeled me in. Amazing setting!──★★ 

I also fell in love with the lead character of this novel. He's very deep—from which you can deduce he isn't flat at all. It's hard to read a book featuring a male lead which is also Women's Fiction without wishing the author didn't make the colossal mistake of employing a male lead in this book. But with this book it's different. Not a chauvinistic, slutty stereotype at all. Probably the kind of lead that would be referred to as the 'Housewife's Favorite' were he to be in real life. A star.──★★★

I can't do this book and not talk of other characters who made it thrilling for me. There's Lily, the overpowering friend of our lead who is his ticket to the world of the famous and rich. There's also Carole, the famous actress who doesn't give our lead the time of the Day or even just the look of the day. There's also Matilda Duplaine, who this whole book is about, naive to a fault and of substance you only see in women of the monochrome motion pictures—women of the golden age.──★★★★

One of the features that makes this book thrilling is the whole mystery of Matilda Duplaine. Who is she? And why is she being kept as someone's biggest Hollywood secret?──★★★★★

My rating: Five/five stars.

This title is available on Amazon. 

I recommend this to anyone who wants to enjoy something very Gatsby-like! If you also want a tile dipped in mystery with lots of (upper) class, pick this up. An ideal fall read!

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads and Amazon. 

Fall Book Review: The Piano-Man Project by Late French

Purchase|Goodreads 

MY SYNOPSIS 

Imagine This: You are never the type of woman to orgasm. No matter what your friends say, you just know no man can do THAT for you, thanks very much!

So when your friends contemplate on the kind of man who can just make you have that much multiple 'O's: a piano-playing sex-god, you know when they set out to get him wherever he is, it's going to be a disaster! But you play on, because you want to keep your hopes up that out there there's a (piano-playing) sex god who can just make you come (for once!)

Meanwhile, the man next-door is tinkling your interest. He's rude, bad-tempered and only needs company when he's getting a bottle of whiskey in return. He plays no Piano, people. Except when he mentions your name, you feel you might as well come with the ripple of sensations that courses through you. 

How do you work your way into the bed of a man who is deeply troubled and emotionally distorted? It's only for the orgasm, you keep telling yourself. But why do you want to stake a claim on his heart (even when sometimes he makes you feel like driving a stake throught it!)

Honeysuckle Jones' trouble-seeking, orgasm-less life summarized for your delight. 

My Review. 

I loved this book!

The storyline is very run-off-the-mill chicklit title. Though it is not unique in its sense, it's very enjoyable. So Blonde wants an orgasm, she wants to keep her oldies from being thrown out of their home and she wants the man next-door to stop being such an arse. A star.—★

I loved Honeysuckle, the main character. What a funny name. But Rose and Lily would have been quite non-unique, wouldn't it? She's very charismatic, loves to STEP in to help anyone everywhere, the kind of neighbor who would help you pick up your fallen groceries whilst secretly wishing you would be the one to make her come. A star to her.—★★

Other characters also made this title IMMENSELY fun. There's Lucille, the kind-hearted co-worker of Honey and Mimi, her eighty-year old sister who comes off as hard but is genuinely a sweetheart and is just your ordinary senior citizen who just wants to have a normal adventurous sex life. There's also old Billy, Mimi's boyfriend who loves being handcuffed. You'd love Tash (the Samantha Jones-lookalike friend) and also Nell (the Charlotte-esque friend of Honey who's lately experimenting with more tools with her sweater-clad husband). Christopher, the villain of the book is humorously wicked. Plus, you'd love Hal, the tempestuous next-door-man.—★★★ 

One of the features about this book is its humor. It's also one of those community books in which the whole town joins in to protest major, abnormal changes to their town.—★★★★

My rating: Four-stars.

This book is available on Amazon. Go get.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a feel-good, funny read full of senior citizens engaged in lots of shenanigans. Another good book to add to your fall reading list. 

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Fall Book Review: Disclaimer by Renee Knight

PURCHASE|GOODREADS 

My Synopsis. 

Imagine This: You have been hiding this big secret all your life. With your adorable husband and son who's recently moved out of home, your life is perfect. You recently won an award in your field of investigative journalism. Everything is going like it's supposed to. Your secret is safe. No one knows. Your life isn't in tatters... yet.

During a pastime, you pick up a book to while the hours away—you have no one to look after these days, why don't you look after yourself then? So you begin reading this novel with your feet up, a glass of wine by your bedside—more like it!—and happen to be enjoying this novel. Until you realize you are reading about you. The secret you kept all these years unraveled in a book.

Who knows? Who's out to destroy you? You would only find out if you go back in the past. 

Meanwhile, the writer of your work of 'fiction' is presently working on their best revenge yet. You will pay for what you did years ago.

Catherine's life summed up for your delight! 

My Review. 

I love this book!

The storyline was what reeled me in! I loved the whole idea conceptualized for a psychological thriller! Woman finds herself reading a book about her dark secret. Writer is out to make Woman pay with pen... or more! Lovely! A star!—★

Oh, you'd love its main character, Cath! Very ruthless (at times), very bold. Kind of the character you'd expect to handle a writer who's lost their hinges! A star to her!—★★

I cannot read this book and not comment about its opening chapters! Edge-of-your-seat fun! Very gripping and fast-paced! Most thrillers do not begin this way!!!—★★★

You'd love other characters too. The deluded writer out to get our main character's blood, our lead's husband who's for most part of the book supportive (till he finds out...)—★★★★

Ugh! What killed me about this book is its anti-climax, with such a promising start I was expecting more for an ending. Though, the ending was very soulful and fulfilling, I just wanted... something that would have this book imprinted in my mind forever!

So my rating: Four-out-of five stars. 

The Disclaimer is up on Amazon!

I recommend this book to anyone in need of a psychological thriller laden with flashbacks (of so many versions from the POVs of some characters) that are as gripping as the current day events! You won't be able to put this book down!

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Amazon and Goodreads! 

Fall Book Review: The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah

Purchase|Goodreads

My Synopsis 

Imagine This: You've spent two years in prison.  About to face execution. In Zimbabwe. 

It's a known fact that African prisons are not exactly the safe havens Western prisons are. The food is shitty. The toilet rolls are not enough to contain your shit. And every time, there's a new death recorded. Even in the women's ward.

So you killed the man your parents sold you to. And you are the only woman in Zimbabwe on death-row—so you are quite a sensation in the media. Except there are no hangmen in the country to put you out of your misery (from the annoying sadistic guards who ensure you have absolutely nothing to enjoy).

So while you are waiting for the hangman position to be filled (by someone heartless and brave enough), your lawyer insists you write about every little detail about your crime to gain amnesty.

Your life is no more in the government's hands. It's in yours. How do you detail your murder enough to get a pardon? And more importantly, where do you begin? (You are not too sure of your recall skills).

Memory's impending doom summarized for your delight. 

My Review  

Oh, I adored this book! So you know in my review I'd be as crude as some of the inmates of Orange is the New Black!

The storyline! Amazing! Albino girl commits murder, gets sent to prison, is bullied because of her features, and because she's a woman with education, gets opportunity to write herself out of jail. I like that it's set in Africa, Zimbabwe, giving an insight about the people, their culture through the point of view of a character who's been overseas! Lovely! A star!──★

You'd love Memory. Very dull yet intriguing. She has a voice that has the power to reel every reader in to take her side though she's committed a heinous crime. You'd find yourself sympathizing with her about the harsh conditions in Zimbabwean prisons, and her impending doom. More important, you'd love her story from a traditional background (with strange believes to match) to her transformation into a fine Zimbabwean woman with a very English mindset that erases all traces of her native upbringing. A star.──★★

Other characters you'd love are: Synodia, the authoritating prison guard who has a (teasing) version of baby-talk that aggravates every prisoner and is enough to make any reader wish her tragic end. There's Loveness, the prison guard who's more understanding to Memory due to a secret she keeps. You'd also adore Lloyd, the white man who's  Memory's guardian and the reason she's in jail. Memory's traditional community also embodies characters with primitive (superstitious) beliefs that give an insight into the psychological makeup of the uneducated and rural Zimbabwean.──★★★

It was nice delving into a story with people of different cultures and backgrounds that also has a killer plot to match. Plus this book has a very fulfilling end, so what's not to like?──★★★★

Good work by Petina Gappah. Hope to read more code-mixing/setting-mixing titles from her.──★★★★★

My rating: Five out of five stars!

Petina Gappah's novel debut is available on Amazon! 

I recommend this to anyone who loves a very different read set in the most remotest locations with people of different culture. Anyone who wants a novel on the painful state of prisons in Africa, should grab this book. Plus if you love very biographical novels that are so true and real, this is just a great pick for your fall reading. 

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Amazon and Goodreads. 

Fall Book Review: Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

Purchase|Goodreads 

My Synopsis.

Imagine This: You were abandoned by your mum when you were but a toddler. This has marred your life heavily: you are not like all the other kids at school, you are more science-ly for someone at your age because your mum was, your dad has been institutionalized since her departure and your grandmother doesn't want to talk about it (or anything at all).

You have never given up on your search for her. Even though it's mostly in old drawers finding her endless research notes on elephants in the process. You are sure she would never willingly abandon you. Something must have happened. But no one wants to talk about it. So your only solution:

Find her to tell you exactly what happened.

Your search begins intensely when you are thirteen. You are sneaking out of home with the lie of babysitting a teacher's son, getting a con psychic to give you answers, finding a shady cop who worked on your mom's case.

Soon, you are in too deep to quit. Chances are your mum was a lot of things you never hoped to find out that would taint your (little) memories of her. You find answers that lead to heavy unsettelment and if you are not lucky enough, your own demise.

Jenna Metcalfe's puzzling life summed up for your delight.

My Review. 

I loved, loved this book so in my review you know I'd be throttling you and yelling in your face to go get it!

Amazing storyline! A young teen sets out to find her missing mother and discover answers to why she just disappeared yet she has no idea the ghosts of her past still pertain in the present. Beautiful! A star.── ★

Jenna, the main character is very, very hard to dislike. No, she's not your normal teen! She's very practical about her search for her mum due to her science-liness. And she's adorable all the same because nothing beats a well-developed character who's not just a stereotype of another lead finding a missing character.── ★★

This book is told in point of views of the vanishing cop, Virgil; the fake psychic, Serenity; and Jenna's mysterious mum, Alice. These characters were all peculiar and fabulously developed. You'd love Virgil for his shifty yet great investigation techniques and his love for too many Jack Daniels. You'd love Serenity the no-nonsense, (no-good), bulshitting psychic who's praying she gets back her ability of communicating with the spirit world. Alice is a brilliant animal research scientist, her stories about elephants in the wild are so insightful you cannot wait to flip into her chapter next.── ★★★

Other characters you'd love are: Thomas, Jenna's Dad, who is off his mind. Tallulah, the lab scientist who wants Virgil to go out on a date with her (and then some). One waitress who thinks Serenity is off her hinges (no kidding there). All characters necessary and not redundant in any way!── ★★★★

This is one of those few pieces you could go on and on about the excellent writing (even if you clearly have no idea what excellent writing is, but are sure this is!). From every scene or chapter Jodi Picoult ends with a cliffhanger or some hallmark heartful quote that makes you want to note that down for a little Facebook update! Plus, you'd love her technique of foreshadowing by—wait for it!—using a past character's (Alice) research notes about elephant grief and parenting to give readers an idea of what might take place in the upcoming chapter. So you are sure to have your heart skip a beat if something negative is happening to an elephant in Alice's narrative! A not-done-before technique! Brilliant!── ★★★★★

I loved this book because it offered more than its blurb let on. The blurb makes you feel like reading this book so much. But it leaves out other amazing things I had no idea I'd encounter in this title. And I'm not even talking about the suspense and humor! It's like getting a DVD with lots of fun extras!
I hail the OMG-moment in this book! A star!── ★★★★★★

Oh, heavens! Plus, it supports a cause! Who doesn't want to read a book that makes them want to get on a superhero costume and save the world in their own special way (if not to end poaching of elephants in African countries for Ivory)

My rating: Six out of five stars!

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult is available on Amazon. Just go get it now!

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a well-written title (—lots of people use this term loosely, I don't!). Anyone who wants to read a book that would fill out all their boring times. Anyone who wants a book that is so different from most of the women's fiction titles out there! Plus, you could do worse for your choice of Fall reads (this is doing best!).


Woo! Loved this title. Would Look out more for Jodi Picoult's works! Spreading the word on Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter!